


In the Dark of the Night

by espiritus



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, Mac is afraid of ghouls, and also super brave, because why tf not?, dead spouses, lots of salty language, lotsa feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-14
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-10-30 22:23:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10886127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/espiritus/pseuds/espiritus
Summary: Standalone snapshot of Von and Mac early in their relationship (pre-romance, pre-personal quest); canon with previous storyline, likely somewhere between chapters 3 and 4.They obviously don't know much about each other at this point, and neither has any idea about the other's dead spouse.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Baby, It's Just You](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7599295) by [espiritus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/espiritus/pseuds/espiritus). 



It was just before dusk, and Von and Mac found themselves standing in a cozy little co-op that Von recognized as the former Fairline Hill Estates. It had been a nice enough neighbourhood before the war- many of Nate's army buddies had lived there, and she'd accompanied him to many events in the area. But this was the first time she'd been here alone, and a pang of loneliness washed over her, realizing that she would never again hear his voice or feel his arms around her shoulders... They'd promised _'til death do us part_ , but she'd never expected it to be so soon.

 _And certainly not like this,_ she thought to herself as she tried to open one of the doors. Indeed, saying those words had conjured up all kinds of images: the two of them, old and grey, sipping their coffee as they watched the sun rise on a lazy Saturday morning or played with their grandchildren- Shaun's children- outside in the yard... but standing over her husband's dead body as blood from a gunshot wound slowly spread, turning his vault suit from blue to red, had not been one of them.

"We should take shelter here," she suggested, swallowing over the lump in her throat before turning to Mac, who shrugged. "Lord knows there's only an hour of daylight left, and we're safer out of sight. We can take turns watching for yao guai, and whatever else is out there."

"I dunno, boss," came Mac's reply, as he peered into a nearby garbage can as if hoping to find something resembling food. "Perfectly nice houses and no one living in them... Pretty sure that's not a good sign. Maybe we should steer clear."

As usual, she ignored him and struggled with the door for a moment, grabbing the knob and tugging with all her might, but to no avail. "Shit," she hissed, more to herself than to her current companion. "Chained on the other side. No way I can pick this. There has to be another..."

That's when she noticed a truck nearby, and a stack of furniture that led up to the roof. She turned to look at Mac, who opened his mouth to talk her out of it, before clambering up onto the teetering tower of desks and crates.

"You coming? Or are you going to sit out here all night? It's cool if you want to get eaten by a giant mutated bear- just don't do it on my watch."

Mac sighed reluctantly and, shaking his head in defeat, followed her. If there was one thing he'd learned about Von over the past few weeks, it was that she feared nothing- Raiders, yao guai, falling from ridiculous heights... Nothing stood in her way, though he wondered if it was bravery or desperation that made her do these things. He saw bits and pieces of himself in her, and it only made him realize just how little he knew about the woman he was travelling with: she obviously wasn't from around here, hadn't told him where they were going, and her reason for needing an extra gun had been vague at best. Yes, he knew that she was looking for someone, but only because he'd overheard Hancock and Magnolia talking about it at the Third Rail; everything else about her was shrouded in mystery, and it intrigued him immensely. Who was Von, and what was her story?

Further up, Von braced against the side of the house and let herself in through a small hole in the roof. Once she'd landed on solid ground, she surveyed the scene, using her Pip-Boy light to illuminate the room as she rummaged through the various chests for anything useful. Mac dropped down onto the ground beside her, and that's when they heard a low growl from the closed door directly in front of them.

"Oh, for godssakes. Of all the houses in this estate, you'd _have_ to pick the one with ghouls in it."

Of course, this didn't seem to faze her, and she grinned wickedly as she cocked her shotgun. "Correction," she admonished, brandishing her weapon at the closed door. "I picked the house with the _dead_ ghouls in it. They just don't know it yet. So let's go kill them before they realize we're here."

She motioned him forward, and Mac tried to follow her lead, but found himself rooted to the spot. He hated ghouls, though he'd never tell Von that- she'd just laugh, without bothering to understand why he was afraid of them. They'd ripped Lucy apart like she was made of paper, all before he could fire a shot, and he could still hear her terrified screams as they echoed through the darkness of that pre-war metro station; the same screams that had haunted him for the four years that had passed since her death. Even now, his blood turned to ice at the mere memory- he'd rather battle an entire herd of Deathclaws with a stick than stare down just one of the monsters that had stolen his entire world from him in a matter of seconds.

"-and that's when we attack," he heard Von say, over the sound of his own heart pounding in his chest like a hail of bullets. "We'll kick in the door and then- hold on just an atomic second. Are you... are you crying?"

"Uh, no," he lied, turning away from her so that she couldn't see his face. "I just... I've got some dust in my eyes, okay? Leave me alone."

_If you'd been there that night, I bet you'd be afraid of them too._

But the look on Von's face made it clear that she wasn't buying any of it. "You're a lousy liar," she answered back, clearly unconvinced. "If you're _that_ afraid of ghouls, just go downstairs and make yourself useful. See if there's anything worth scavenging down there. If you hear me scream, it's probably because I'm having too much fun without you. But you should probably check and make sure I'm not dead, just in case."

"You think this is a joke? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I might ask you the same. Ever since we got here, you've been acting like I insulted your mother. Either tell me what's going on or shut your cakehole, because I don't have time for this."

Her tone was snarky, sarcastic, and it infuriated him to the point that the ability to form words eluded him. He was sick of Von's shit; she seemed to positively luxuriate in her callousness and, were she not armed and incredibly dangerous, he would have already put a bullet between her eyes. In her defense, she wasn't psychic and had no way of knowing what had gone down in that pre-war metro station- if she had, then perhaps she would have been less of a wiseass... or perhaps not.

"Forget it," he muttered finally, waiting until her back was turned before giving her a death stare. "I'll be downstairs. Just... Just try not to get yourself killed up here, okay?"

Von didn't respond, but waited until Mac was downstairs before kicking in the door. She had no idea what his problem was, or if she was it, but she didn't care. The only thing she cared about was finding Shaun and getting back to Sanctuary in one piece... that was, if she and this asshat didn't murder each other first.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of the previous chapter (I was only going to do 1, but it ended up being way too long).

Von blew the first ghoul's head off with just one shot, but the second was a glowing green monstrosity that proved much tougher in combat. Every time she took a shot at it, the thing would recoil for a moment and then just charge her again- she gasped in pain as it bit down on her right arm, but responded by giving it a swift smack in the face with the back end of her shotgun. It staggered backward, buying her a few seconds to reload before shooting it in the head as many times as she could. 

This went on for several minutes, though the glowing green ghoul showed no signs of letting up. Von could feel the the beginnings of radiation poisoning as it began to take hold- her vision was so blurred that she could no longer tell if she was fighting one ghoul, five, of fifty; her stomach twisted like it used to on those pre-war roller coasters, and she could hear Nate's voice as clear as the night was dark. This whole plan had been suicide, but perhaps it would be worth it if she was reunited with her other half... wherever he was now.

Downstairs, Mac was busy disarming a nearby tension trigger when he heard a loud bang and looked up just in time to see Von and the glowing green ghoul crash through the floor. She hit the ground with a sickening crack, and the ghoul had its teeth embedded in her shoulder; her skin was tinged green, and blood dripped steadily from defensive wounds on her wrists and arms. Her shotgun, he observed, lay on the ground several feet away, and there was no way she'd be able to get to it from her current position.

Suddenly, he was back in the metro station, running towards the exit with Duncan in his arms. He could hear Lucy screaming, her cries piercing the air as a ghoul's fingers tried to pry little Duncan from his grasp, and then... 

For a moment, he thought over his options. If the ghoul killed her now, he could probably take her supplies, but he might have two minutes to run for it before the thing smelled fear and killed him too. If Von was struggling, there was no way in hell he'd be able to fight it off by himself. Sure, she was a callous bitch, but she didn't deserve to die, and the person she was supposedly looking for surely didn't deserve what he'd been through.

Before he could talk himself out of it, he was already going through the motions. He snuck into the closest corner, lined up a shot, and fired- not once, not twice, but five times; five bullets directly into the back of that thing's head. It growled in pain and rushed forward- fear gripped him, and he was pretty sure it was game over. But the sudden change in direction had freed Von from the ghoul's death-grip, and she crawled across the room, grabbed her shotgun, and emptied an entire magazine of bullets into its skull. She promptly collapsed onto the floor, and the green monster wailed one last time before crumpling to the ground, mere inches from Mac's position.

It was a few minutes before he recovered enough to move, but the first thing he did was rush to Von's side with his med kit. Her skin was glowing now; she was foaming at the mouth, and the whites of her eyes were tinged red from taking so many rads, but it was nothing a stimpak and some rest wouldn't fix. The scars from the bite marks would heal on their own in due time, though he'd definitely make sure she saw a doctor when they got to... wherever they were going.

He lifted her up and awkwardly half-dragged, half-carried her up the stairs. Von was just slightly smaller than he was, and supporting their combined weight was a tricky feat, but he eventually made it up the stairs and laid her atop the lone yellow sleeping bag. Her eyes were closed now, but the green tinge had already begun to fade from her skin, and Mac sighed with relief as he lit a cigarette, hoping that it would calm his fraying nerves. The whole thing had been Lucy all over again, though he was relieved that he'd been able to save Von from the ghoul- at least in theory, since she'd technically saved _his_ life. But still...

"Thank you" she murmured, her voice muffled by the yellow sleeping bag. "You saved me. But why?"

"That's for another time. But you're welcome."

A few moments passed in silence, and Mac stared out the window as night fell and the stars painted the sky with their ethereal glow. He wondered if Lucy was out there somewhere, if she could see what he'd just done and if she was proud of him for conquering his biggest fear... even if his newfound bravery had come far too late to save her.

**Author's Note:**

> i missed this little story, okay? lol.
> 
> i actually enjoyed writing pre-romance von, since she's snarky and sarcastic; she and mac had this weird chemistry from the get-go, even when they were scrapping like two dogs over a bone.


End file.
